Current weather

Economic Development Foundation needs to be up and running now

Posted: Sunday, July 08, 2001

It's been more than a year since the Athens-Clarke Commission voted to start a public-private economic development foundation aimed at expanding and diversifying the local economy. A year has gone by and the foundation still does not exist.

This organization -- touted as a joint effort between the county, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and the Athens-Clarke Economic Development Authority -- remains only a concept. There is no board or director. No goals have been set and no bench marks agreed to.

To those inside the community and out, Athens-Clarke County is leaving doubts about its commitment to improving the local economy.

For several years, the commission, chamber, economic development authority -- a quasi-governmental group that serves as a conduit for financing industrial projects -- and the University of Georgia have been trying to work together to assemble a comprehensive economic development initiative for the county. In March 2000, the commission approved the funding and creation of an Economic Development Foundation. In July 2000, the commission approved bylaws for the foundation.

Just when the foundation seemed to be making progress, it all fell apart. In November, Eldridge notified commissioners through a memo that he and representatives from the foundation's initiating partners wanted to appoint chamber President Kevin Johnson as director of the foundation.

But some of the commissioners weren't thrilled with the order in which the foundation was being assembled. They believed a board should be selected before naming the foundation's director. In a December memo to commissioners, Eldridge agreed to delay any further progress on the foundation until the spring.

Spring has come and gone, and the foundation seems to be about as real as a fairy tale. In an article last week, Eldridge said he intends to send commissioners a memo indicating that it's time to start talking about picking a board of directors for the foundation.

While pleased to hear county officials actually talking about the foundation again, we're only cautiously optimistic that the foundation will be up and running in a few months. After all, we've heard this tune before.

It isn't clear exactly why the Economic Development Foundation has been collecting dust for more than a year. Some commissioners have said they were waiting on a signal from Eldridge about when to resume talks. Eldridge said delays were a result of the commission having too many things going on at one time.

Whatever the reason or excuse, the mayor and commission either need to make a move or bury the idea altogether. Resuscitating this phantom organization every six months is making a mockery of our community's economic development problems, which, unlike the foundation, actually do exist.

This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, July 8, 2001.